Toshiba Satellite M45X-S331 15.4" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive)

by Toshiba

Product Details

Data Sheet [191kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 10.6 x 1.7 inches ; 5.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00070PDAU
• Item model number: PSM40U-01R001
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 16, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Maximize your mobile performance with the Toshiba Satellite M45-S331, the ideal notebook PC for the savvy professional who needs to travel light. Featuring one of the speediest Intel Pentium M (Centrino) processors, the M45-S331 can sweetly handle today's demanding business productivity software suites. It also offers powerful multimedia capabilities for presentations--and for unwinding with a DVD movie while travelling. The M45-S331 features a large 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, a 15.4-inch screen, DVD SuperMulti optical drive that burns both CDs and multiple DVD formats, and integrated 54g wireless connectivity. For a more powerful Centrino processor and even larger hard drive, check out the M45-S351.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: The 80 GB hard drive (4200 RPM) is one of the larger sizes you'll find in a notebook, and it's befitting of such an entertainment-centric PC. It offers more than enough capacity for storing documents and productivity software for road warriors. You'll also be able to store a good-sized digital audio library.
• Processor: The 1.6 GHz Pentium M (Centrino) processor approaches the higher end of speed for this processor class. It is well equipped for office productivity software tasks, from complex spreadsheets to databases. The Pentium M processor is designed specifically for low-power mobile usage, and it features the latest in power-saving technologies--ensuring you push your battery and productivity to the max. It also has a large 2 MB L2 cache--which will help speed up your system's performance--and a quick 533 MHz front-side bus (FSB).
• Memory: The 512 MB (333 MHz) of built-in memory is becoming the standard for notebooks, and the M45X-S331 can be expanded to 2 GB of memory--necessary for running complex spreadsheets and multimedia applications.
• CD/DVD Drive: Toshiba's DVD SuperMulti drive reads and burns all major disc formats: DVD+RW, DVD-RW, and CD-RW. For DVD-RW discs, it has a 1x write/rewrite speed, while for DVD+RW discs it has a 2x write/rewrite speed (DVDs are read at 5x). For CDs, it has a 16x write/10x rewrite/40x read speed.
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 101-key keyboard and two-button touchpad with on/off button and dedictated vertical scroll up/down pad.

Screen, Graphcs and Sound
The 15.4-inch widescreen Ultimate TrueBrite TFT active matrix LCD screen provides a bright, vivid display and allows images to be seen from a wider angle than most notebooks. The integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 video/graphics card (with 128 MB of shared video memory) provides HDTV support with native 16x9 formats for wide screen flat panels. You'll also get good 3D rendering for today's immersive gaming titles. It also offers 16-bit Realtek ALC250 sound and internal stereo speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The M45X-S331 has an integrated 54g wireless LAN that's compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks. You get a good offering of connectivity options, including both super-fast USB 2.0 and Firewire options:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 1 S-Video out
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II, 32-bit)
• 1 headphone jack
• 1 microphone jack
• Multiformat memory card reader, compatible with Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia (MMC), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and XD cards

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Gigabit Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
This system comes with the Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 operating system with Advanced Security Technologies, which helps to reduce unwanted downloads and pop-ups while surfing the Web.

Dimensions and Weight
This Centrino laptop weighs under 7 pounds--a bit larger than other notebooks with this processor--and measures 14.17 x 10.55 x 1.71 inches.

Power
This notebook is powered by a 6-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which offers up to 3 hours of battery life (dependent upon computing conditions).

What's in the Box
This package contains the M45X-S331 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limiited hardware warranty.

Product Description

Includes: 6-cell lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, & Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Toshiba M45-S331 Satellite Notebook PC - This highly mobile notebook PC features an Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (1.6 GHz), and 512MB of PC2700 DDR SDRAM. More than enough power to handle your everyday applications while on the road. It also helps you stay connected with a built-in 802.11b/g wireless network adapter. At any Wi-Fi Hot Spot you can wirelessly access e-mail, the web, and other computers. 80GB 4200RPM HDD DVD SuperMulti Drive - can read and write to both CD & DVD media 15.4 Widescreen LCD with TruBrite technology Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 128MB of shared memory (memory is taken from the main system) 56k Fax Modem Ports - RGB Monitor Out, S-Video TV Out, 1 FireWire, 3 USB 2.0, & 10/100 Ethernet

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love my Toshiba M45-S331!!, April 9, 2005

By 

A. Kolambekar - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite M45X-S331 15.4" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive) (Personal Computers)

After some research, I was down to Toshiba M45-S331 and Dell 6000. Finally got Toshiba although it was more expensive(especially considering Dell online deals). So far am very satisfied and love its built quality and feel as compared to others in the same price & specs range.

PROS:
1. Great specs for the price
2. TruBrite screen
3. Harman/Kardon speakers
4. Keyboard Layout
5. Bridge-Media Aapter

CONS:
1. PC2700 RAM instead of a DDR2
2. Relatively less Battery Life. (< 3 hrs on a full-charge)

I experienced the FREEZING/LOCK-UP problem on plugging the AC Power Cord and have seen numerous such topics online. Toshiba Support insisted its a hardware problem but was not convinced.

Was finally able to solve this problem by tweaking the Power settings of the Laptop...

1. Go to "Power Management Icon" from your system-icon-tray on bottom-right corner of the screen. (It gives information about Current Power Source, Remaining Battery and Power Profile)

2. Right-click it and select "TOSHIBA POWER SAVER SETTINGS".

3. Click "SETUP OPTIONS" button on bottom-left of the window

4. "UNCHECK" the box marked "Change Power Source Profile Automatically".

Once you have done this....you should hopefully no longer have the freezing or locking problem when you switch to AC Power.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it!, February 22, 2005

By 

Stephen K. Ayres "evolume" (Seattle, washington United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite M45X-S331 15.4" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive) (Personal Computers)

I recieved my laptop last week and have been working it out ever since. I am an electroinc musician and I am running Ableton Live 3.0 on it with no problems so far (See www.myspace.com/kenjibeatbox for a sample of the music I've created on this thing). Transfering my files over from my old computer was no problem. I just plugged into my network router and downloaded all my files and mp3's. Installing all my music software was also no problem. I did have a little trouble installing the M-Audio Quattro software for my USB Audio module, but that was mostly because of the crappy instruction manual from M-Audio and not because of the laptop.

The thing is damn fast! I was previously running Ableton Live on a 750 mhz AMD Athalon machine. Often, my CPU usage bar would creep up to 70% or more. But these same tracks now only push up the bar to about 15%. I can tweek effects, pile on the reverb and do live editing with no gapping, no freezing, no crashing and no spontaneous restarts (all problems i was having with my old PC).

The battery life seems to be good. But so far, I've only been watching DVD's on battery power. I can run a 2.5 hour movie and still have 20 minutes of battery life or so. The real test will be producing music on battery power which will be much more CPU intensive.

The wide screen monitor is beautiful, and I had no trouble setting up my old CRT for using dual monitors for added workspace. It is very simple to set it up in the control panel. It seems though, that you need to set it up each time you want to use dual monitors, but I could be wrong. I haven't really figured out all the ins and outs of this thing yet.

So over all, this is a good, truly mobile, machine at a very fair price and I am quite pleased with it. If I have any problems with it in the future, I will update this review.

EDIT AUG/2005
Still very happy with my laptop. I have read about other people having wireless/battery lockup problems. At this moment, I am unplugging the AC adapter and switching to battery... Still typing. Now at this moment I am plugging back in the AC adapter... No problems.. This has not been a problem at all on my system.

I have competed in a Laptop Battle with this machine as well, running on batteries with no problems either. For a video of my battle performance see www.zebox.com/evolume.

There ARE a couple problems I have noticed after about 6 months usage:

1. I am not sure but it seems the display is 'bleached' out towards the bottom and right sides of the screen. It is only really visable if the image showing is very dark and I have the lights off, and only when viewing at an angle. Not sure what to think of this. I don't know how long it's been like this and it doesn't seem to be worsening. It is a little upsetting but like I said, it is barely noticable.

2. My wireless card does not always turn on after I switch it off. I have solved this problem by just never switching it off but again, it is a little upsetting.

Over all I am still very pleased with this machine. It is light. It is fast. And the display is (for the most part) beautiful. I am still producing music with it. I use it probably 50-60 hours a week and it almost never crashes. I noticed that Costco now sells an updated version of of this machine for about $1400 and it has a 100gig HD instead of 80, but I don't regret buying mine when I did. Computers will always get better no matter how long you wait to buy.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A HORRIBLE Experience, May 9, 2005

By 

GA (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite M45X-S331 15.4" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive) (Personal Computers)

Sleek notebook, but that’s the only positive. My absolute worst fears all came true only three weeks after I bought it.

Within three weeks the screen had died on me. Called the warranty service who advised me to send it to the Toshiba depot for repair, as opposed to taking it to a local service center. They assured me that the depot would have all the necessary parts, whereas a service center will have to order them and wait. They also assured me that I’ll have my notebook back in about a week.

Three weeks later, after countless phone calls, and many promises of delivery “next week”, they finally told me that parts are still not available and that it would take two additional weeks before they get them.

I called customer relations several times (get used to 45 minutes on hold, don’t bother leaving messages, they never return calls despite the promise of “within the hour”). Every time I was assured that this time they’ll get it right and that I’ll get my notebook within days.

Needless to say, two weeks passed, and the assurances turned to be meaningless. Customer relations’ only job is to get you off the phone, not to solve your problem. So here I am with a brand new notebook that spent twice as much time in the repair shop than on my desk. I called customer relations again, and asked to speak to someone who will actually do something to solve my problem, perhaps send me a replacement unit. I bought the notebook because I needed it, and I just can’t defer using it indefinitely. Guess what they told me? There’s not such thing as someone who could do something. There is no replacement policy. I’ll just have to wait for the part until it arrives – whenever that is.

A new notebook is not supposed to break right out of the box, but if it does, a respectable manufacturer should stand by their product and make up for the inconvenience to the customer. Toshiba has been utterly disappointing on all counts.